Friday, April 13, 2012

Museum News (Rodrigue on the Walls)

Updated with additional exhibitions, August 1, 2012-

If you were lucky enough to see the Rodrigue retrospective
exhibitions in 2007 in Memphis and 2008 in New Orleans, then you know the power
of such shows. For those who
sought the Blue Dog, the Cajuns and Portraits piqued their interest, as they
learned of Rodrigue’s twenty-five year pre-Blue Dog career for the first
time. And for those who came for
Rodrigue’s earliest years and darkest landscapes, the bright Blue Dog canvases
held, to their surprise, the same rich quality.

Time and again I overheard people comment, "not what I expected," some skeptical as they
entered, but collectively awed as they left. -click photo to enlarge-

(Watch a virtual room-by-room tour from the New Orleans
Museum of Art of their 2008 blockbuster:
“Rodrigue’s Louisiana:
Cajuns, Blue Dogs and Beyond Katrina” at this link. The exhibition originated in 2007 as “Blue
Dog: The Art of George Rodrigue”
at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.)

In the near future we combine Rodrigue’s paintings, both
from his archives and borrowed from collectors, in new large-scale exhibitions
in Texas and California at the Amarillo Museum of Art (opening August 2012) and
the National Steinbeck Center (opening October 2013).

In addition to borrowed paintings, Rodrigue works at his
easel inspired by these shows. His
latest canvas, for example, anticipates our upcoming visit to one of his
favorite states.

(pictured, Take Me
Back to Texas, 2012, 72x48 inches, acrylic on canvas)

In Louisiana, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) recently
completed an eighteen-month statewide tour of their Rodrigue collection in
exhibitions ultimately spanning 40-90 works each at museums in Baton Rouge,
Alexandria, Monroe, Shreveport, Slidell and Lake Charles (see the links under
“Rodrigue in Louisiana” to the right of this post for highlights from those
exhibitions).

This tour was so successful that it spawned unplanned stops,
occurring now. The Hammond Regional Arts Center hosts Blue Dog paintings from NOMA’s collection through
April 28, 2012, and the West Baton Rouge Museum hosts Rodrigue’s Saga of the Acadians through June 24,
2012.

The Museum at Texas A&M University opens George Rodrigue: Paintings from the New Orleans Museum of Art, September 1st thru November 3rd, 2012 (details here). And the Louisiana State Library in Baton Rouge exhibits this fall Rodrigue's Flora Levy Series, portraits of ten scholars, including Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners, painted during the 1980s for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (details and images here).

-click photo to enlarge

(pictured, Rodrigue’s Saga
of the Acadians, as the series looked at the Imperial Calcasieu Museum in Lake
Charles last year; read the history of these historical paintings here; Rodrigue returns to Lake Charles for an exhibition of his drawings and prints, Fall 2012.)

Finally, in addition to solo exhibitions, Rodrigue’s
paintings hang in numerous American museums and often within group shows. Two of his paintings tour with the
Absolut Art Collection in Europe, soon settling permanently in Sweden at the new
Historical Museum of Wine and Spirits.

Here in Louisiana, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art unveils
May 10th, 2012 George Rodrigue’s most important Cajun painting, the Aioli Dinner (1971). At the opening reception* the artist shares the story of this gourmet dinner club, his first painting with people,
which remains on view long-term at the Ogden, third floor.

(-click photo to enlarge; read the history of the Aioli
Dinnerhere; photo credit, Judy Cooper)

Also in New Orleans, the National World War II Museum exhibits within its permanent collection Rodrigue's Victory on Bayou St. John, a large scale (12 feet) historical painting of General Eisenhower and boat builder Andrew Higgins, commissioned in 2008 by the museum.

(-click photo to enlarge; read the story behind this important painting here-)

At the New Orleans Museum of Art, while their Rodrigue
paintings remain on tour, his Blue Dog statue stands permanently among the
massive oaks and other fine works of art in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden adjacent to the museum.

(Read more about the “Blue Dog in Three Dimensions” here; photo credit, Karen Moyes)

Finally, George Rodrigue’s museum participation is not
limited to his own paintings.
Recently, for example, he sponsored through the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts a video production of “Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial,”* featuring
interviews and reactions from O. Perry Walker High School students within the NOMA exhibition. I leave you with this inspiring video,
reminding us of the power of the Arts and the importance of supporting them
within our community.

Wendy

-Meet George Rodrigue
as he unveils his Aioli Dinner at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, May
10th, 2012, 5:00 p.m. Tickets $10,
or free with a museum membership. For info call (504) 539-9612 or visit www.ogdenmuseum.org

2 comments:

Seeing George's retrospective was amazing to so many people. Even knowing his work as well as I do, I was still awed seeing the progression of his work come together in one space. Blockbuster shows like that are so important to the growth of a museum, and the cultural awareness of a community. I look forward to seeing the Aioli Dinner hanging at the Ogden!

Search This Blog

Join the Rodrigue Family Now on Facebook-

About Me

I was born on a military base and raised in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
Attended Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, majoring in Art History and English, followed by European Art and Architecture in Vienna, Austria, and graduate school at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Worked for the Rodrigue Gallery in New Orleans and later Carmel, CA, beginning in 1991, and married George Rodrigue in 1997.
I've written guest columns for publications including Gambit, Country Roads Magazine, and Louisiana Cultural Vistas. As of 2017 I live between New Orleans, Louisiana and Santa Fe, New Mexico. I work extensively on George Rodrigue exhibitions and publishing projects, and lecture widely on his art.
I remain involved full-time within Rodrigue gallery operations and the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, with an ongoing focus on preserving and enhancing Rodrigue's artistic and philanthropic legacy.
My first solo book, "The Other Side of the Painting" (UL Press), was published October 2013.